TV vet Steve Tao joins J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Prods.

Exec to help shepherd WBTV-based shingle's small screen projects

TV development vet Steve Tao has joined the TV wing of J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Prods.

Tao will work with Kathy Lingg and Athena Wickham in shepherding the Warner Bros. TV-based company’s many TV projects.

Tao served a hitch as a development exec at ABC in the late 1990s. He’s also held posts at New Line TV, FremantleMedia North America, New Line TV and Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment.

Bad Robot at present is fielding four drama pilots — two for Fox (“Adulting” and “Inhuman”), one for NBC (“Believe”) and one for CW (“Electropolis”). Shingle at present has drama “Person of Interest” performing well for CBS on Thursdays in its second season, and frosh drama “Revolution,” which was a standout for NBC in the fall. Bad Robot’s “Fringe” wrapped its five-season run on Fox last month.